Our final stop was Phnom Penh and as was fitting for a return to the UK, it was our only day of rain.
We took a quick tuk tuk trip in the rain to the central market, still no tarantulas so that was a complete myth and our final evening was spent reflecting on this epic journey at the Elephant Bar in Raffles hotel.
It was a three week adventure but somehow managed to feel like a gap year condensed and on steroids.
We packed a lot in and got a lot back. I arrived feeling ill and exhausted and am returning feeling well and exhausted but in a very different way.
The next morning we were up and off to the airport having our final Cambodian breakfast (fresh pineapple juice, I miss you already).
We left a thriving country where the quality of life was high, people seemed happy and everyone seemed to have what they needed.
We arrived back to a third world country where we couldn’t get the Heathrow Express to Paddington due to strikes and instead had to take the Piccadilly line, getting home an hour and a half later at midnight, exhausted. A Saturday evening in London where people seemed enormous compared to the South East Asians, disgruntled and consumed with consuming. A very different world but perhaps that was culture shock.
We arrived home cold and disorientated and went to sleep, waking a few hours later cold and disorientated. With a rainy Sunday to recover and Agnes home, it was a day to put the fire on (an exorbitant luxury these days) and take it easy at least for a day.
What a fantastic adventure!
all about gem 